


Scan My Green Bloodshot Eyes For The History of My Trials

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Police, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Crimes & Criminals, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Forced Prostitution, Introspection, Life Debt, Multi, Older Man/Younger Woman, Organized Crime, Past Child Abuse, Redemption, Repaying Debt, Strangers to Lovers, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 13:05:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5249282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Hart is just a DI trying to break the latest case that has fallen into his and his partner James Percival's lap.  The last thing he needed was to get emotionally invested in a particular prostitue that he and James rescued from a bad date.</p><p>The thing is, that this Eggsy has two things that Harry needs: Information on the case and a way to repay the life debt he incurred in his short army stint. </p><p>There's no way that he can back away from her. Not that he even wants to, at this point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Past In Her Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> I never really set out to write a cop AU with a gender twist, but here we are. I can't seem to not do this, so here we are. Uhm, Fem! Eggsy in my mind looks like a young Kathryn Winnick.
> 
> Title is from Sondre Lerche's "Bad Law". If there are errors/typos, they will be fixed accordingly. 
> 
> I also have been researching the police structure (Canadian here), but if I get it wrong, my apologies and I will fix them promptly.

Arthur was frowning as he folded his hands and laid them down on his desk. There were stacks of folders on both sides of his desk and he wasn't just looking at them with his usual disdain, but glaring at them. This was not the usual for him and Harry made sure to catch Percy's eye to see if his partner had noticed that change.

Percy caught Harry's look and subtly shrugged. This was unusual, since their Chief Officer only got to the glaring stage at the end of a particularly fruitless case and not before. They had barely started the prostitution sting, so Harry was at a loss as to guess why Arthur Chester King (yes, he actually did refer and expected to be addressed as such) was looking as pleasant as curdled cream that evening.

“I'll make this quick and I'll make it short. We need something, _anything_ on this case. The council is receiving even more complaints than usual due to the increased traffic outside of the estates.”

Here, his face face screwed itself up into an expression of distaste.

“It normally wouldn't matter, but they're starting to move into the school yards. And you all know what that means.”

Percy and Harry both winced while Roxy, their newest DI, chewed on her lip and looked at Merlin, who was rapidly making notes in his clipboard.

“More complaints. More panicked parents. Which means that we _have_ to get this sorted before we end up getting a mass hysteria. So get out there and find something. Anything so we can get this sorted out with the least amount of repercussions. Dismissed.”

Percy and Harry were the first to leave, only pausing to grab their jackets and head out to their car, which had seen better days, but both of them preferred it that way.

“How much do you want to bet that someone up above has started to put the pressure on?”

Percy asked the moment that they had entered the car.

Harry snorted and adjusted the mirror as he started the car and they pulled out of the station.

“Of course. Do you seriously think that Chester King actually gives a damn about some poor Ukrainian girls being exploited? That would be the day. No. Someone wants him to clean up the area and do it fast. And as much as I hate to actually agree with him on this, we have to get this stopped.”

Percy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“As much as it pains me as well, you're right. We need to get something and finish this off once and for all.”

Harry nodded as they drove off to hopefully find a way to do just that.

~*~*~*~*~

_Eggsy_

She blew out a breath and shifted a little from foot to foot. Her feet were getting cold in those boots and the miniskirt that Dean insisted she wear barely lent her any warmth. At least she had a jacket, even if it was denim and utterly useless in this wet, damp weather. She hugged herself tightly and glared at the thin drizzle that was falling down.

She didn’t want to be there, but as much as she didn’t want to be standing on that street corner half-soaked and chilled, she didn’t want to get hit either. Dean needed cash and her mother simply wasn’t bringing it in like she used to. The other girls kept running away and having to replace them made Dean angry at the loss of revenue.

Eggsy would have told him to fuck off long before this, but with her mum so strung out and Daisy needing looking after…She had no choice but to get tarted up and stand on the street and hopefully not get beat up or killed and made some cash.

She wouldn't have been able to live with herself if anything happened to them. They were her family, ever since her dad had been killed in the middle east ages ago during his stint in the army. She was the one that needed to keep it all together and she wasn't going to fail.

Even if it meant giving up her own dreams to do so. They needed her badly. She wasn't about to start turning her back on them. So she swallowed her pride, didn't flinch when Dean hit her and did as she was told.

It was a life and she was more or less used to it.

Tonight though, it was hard to recall why she was making those sacrifices.

After two hours of simply being stared at, she was debating packing it in and taking her chances with Dean. She knew that he would probably just slap her around, call her lazy and make her go do it over again the next night. But right now, it looked like a fair price to pay instead of standing there and risking pneumonia.

Eggsy sighed and looked at her watch. It was getting close to midnight and if she didn’t hustle, she’d have to wait for the night bus again and that was not an experience that she was keen on repeating. Squaring her shoulders, she turned to walk to the tube station closest to her corner when a car pulled up. She bit back the groan of disappointment when the driver stopped and stuck his head out to look at her.

Although she had been doing this for a few months now, it still unnerved her to be assessed and weighed by strange men. She knew that it was part of the transaction, but it was still nerve-wracking. Especially when someone like the man in the car was doing it. He should have been someone that didn’t ping on her radar at all: He was average in everything, except for the colour of his eyes, which were a bright, startling blue that put Eggsy in mind of the rhinestones in her mum’s best earrings.

They were that cold and that devoid of warmth and that was enough to send warning bells off in her head. She was actually taking a step back when he held up three twenty pound notes. Eggsy bit her lip and despite her misgivings, she walked around the car and tried the door. The locks clicked sharply before letting her in.

She settled into the seat and looked at the man, who was slightly smiling as she took the crisp notes. Eggsy fancied that they were still warm from the atm he had gotten them from before stuffing them in her boot. The man laughed quietly at that, but kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

“There’s a park nearby. Straight ahead. Just a couple of roads up. No one goes there. You have me for an hour.”

Eggsy told him, making him nod in acknowledgement before driving to the location she had mentioned. Although she preferred silence, what was between herself and the man at that moment was anything but comfortable. In fact, the longer it stretched out, the more it put Eggsy on edge.

She tried to play it cool though. Sixty pounds was sixty pounds and it was far more preferable to come home after a bad date with some cash than fine and empty handed. So she forced herself to stay calm and turn to him once he had parked the car.

Once he turned off the ignition, he smiled at her, making her blood freeze. The man’s smile was something she had seen on Dean’s face before he had pinned down who he wanted to bear the brunt of his rage that day.

Eggsy didn’t even wait for him to strike. She simply popped the locks and bolted out onto the sidewalk.

Or tried to.

He yanked her arm hard enough to make her yell and she was sure that over her shouts, she had heard a loud pop and her arm was suddenly on fire.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, you dumb slag? I paid for you and I’m not going to get ripped off by a dumb cunt like you!”

He forced her back into the car and he grabbed her chin and forced her to kiss him, only for him to cry out and draw back with a bloody mouth. Eggsy’s ears were ringing at the dull blow that was followed by him pushing her against the back of the seat and yanking down the lever that made it collapse completely. Eggsy's eyes widened and she struggled to get up and get out of the car.

But he was faster and he was on top of her in seconds, yanking at her flimsy skirt and ripping it off of her. She screamed and tried to fight him off, but once he was on top of her, she was completely pinned down and unable to get enough leverage to get him off.

He wasn't saying anything, only breathing loudly in her ear as he fumbled about to get his zip open and his cock out. Eggsy again tried to flee. But his grip on her injured arm was too strong and Eggsy wondered if she was going to be both raped and killed by him. Or if he was simply going to assault her and dump her on the side of the road and make Dean even angrier when he saw the damage and how long it would take her to look presentable enough to stand on the corner to earn her pay.

She cringed and braced herself for the inevitable.

It didn't happen.

What happened next was that the john was yanked roughly out of his car and then slammed onto the roof of it while a he got handcuffed. Although he had started to shout and complain at first, he gave it up the minute that he was slammed into the unforgiving bonnet of his car, the sound reverberating throughout the car and snapping her out of her shock.

She scrabbled to get a hold of the seatbelt to pull herself up to a sitting position. Once she had, she fumbled with the car door, frantic to get it open. She got it open and forced herself to get out of the car. She stumbled, her cold legs giving out from under her and she would have fallen if it hadn't been for a pair of warm and strong arms circling her and keeping her upright.

She looked up and she got the impression of warm, kind brown eyes, a posh voice and expensive cologne before she blacked out.

~*~*~*~*

Harry was filling out the report at the triage desk of the hospital and trying to not think about the girl ( _Eggsy_ , his mind supplied) that was being currently treated in one of those cubicles past the desk. He was trying to not think about her as he wrote. There was no point in getting personally involved. It was a sad reality that most of those girls were in a bad way and too deep to get out. Be it drugs, family life being shit, or no other way to make a living, they were more or less doomed.

He looked up and saw Percy frowning as he talked with one of the paramedics that had arrived to pick up the gi-Eggsy, while they had made the arrest of the john and dropped him off to be processed before they headed to the hospital with paperwork in hand. He had been there the whole time, trying to not worry about her and waiting for the nurses and the doctors to let him and Percy talk to her.

He had to ask himself why Eggsy's situation affected him as much as it had. He could see the marks of her life on her: The bruises, the sallow skin, the fragility of her bones. All of it spoke of a hard life and the desperation that fuelled her needing to sell the only commodity she had left.

So why was she different than the other poor unfortunates he came across in his investigations?

Harry couldn't figure out why it was bothering him so much though. He was sure that he didn't know the girl from Adam. But there was something in her eyes and in her mouth, as bloodied as it had been that tugged at the fringes of his memory.

He paused in writing the report and instead picked up the lukewarm tea he had bought at the hospital canteen. He made a face at the taste, but drank it down anyway as he pondered the situation that was preying on his mind at the moment.

He knew, and was damned well aware that he didn't need to be distracted. Not when King was breathing down their necks to get a huge case solved. He didn't need to be like those career cops that had one case or one victim that haunted them until it became an obsession, more or less.

He was more pragmatic than that and yet, despite seeing that it was a dead end to be that way, he still was ruminating over that poor girl. He hated to think what would have happened if he and Percy hadn't seen her getting into the car. They had simply acted on a tip, that Dean's girls tended to work that street. They hadn't thought that there would be anyone out there on such a shit night as it was.

But there she had been standing, freezing and shuffling from foot to foot until that low specimen had shown up to pick her up. They hadn't guessed that anything was going to come out of it. Not until they saw her first attempt to leave.

Harry felt a twinge of guilt at not getting there fast enough to stop him from beating her up and ripping her clothes off. It had been a good thing that they had a blanket in the car and Percy had the presence of mind to call the ambulance to get her to the A and E.

He put the cup down and stiffened when he saw one of the nurses coming to talk to him.

“How is , Er, Eggsy?”

Harry asked as he took a look at the notes that he had gathered just to make sure that was really the name and his tired mind wasn't playing tricks on him. It was right though. Eggsy, no last name, was there on the paper in his meticulous writing. That had been the only name he had been able to get out of the girl once she had come around again after passing out in his grasp. He hadn't been able to get anything else, since the Paramedics had taken charge right after.

The nurse smiled faintly at his concern before she looked down at her clipboard.

“She's got a broken arm, a bloody nose and deep bruising. The rape kit came back clean. You both got there in time. She's awake and asking to go home, so I suggest you talk to her fast. She's not in a state to go anywhere and we will keep her for as long as we can, but you'd better hurry. She's in the A-10 cubicle if you want to follow me.”

Harry thanked her and went over to Percy, who nodded and took his leave of the paramedics.

“We're talking to her then?”

Harry nodded as they then walked behind the nurse.

“I got some interesting tidbits from the guys. Seems that street is a hub of sorts and that Eggsy girl stands there a bit along with a few other ones who occasionally get visited by a charming, red headed gentleman.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at that.

It seemed like his instincts had been onto something after all.

They stayed quiet until they reached the cubicle and the nurse excused herself.

Harry entered first and forced himself to remain blank-faced at the sight of Eggsy.

Without the blood and make up caking her face, she looked younger than he had guessed. And even more vulnerable with the bruises and swelling from the bad date. She was wearing a hospital gown and was curled up in the bed, her good hand clutching the blanket as she sat in the bed. Her other hand was in a cast and in a sling. The head of it was propped up and he could see that despite the pain it was probably causing her, she didn't want to be in any position that put her at a disadvantage.

“Hello Eggsy. I'm DI Hart and this is my partner DI Percival. We just want to talk to you, if that's okay.”

Eggy's mouth thinned at that, but she nodded her eyes still cast down and focused on the blanket covering her lap.

Before Harry could say anything, she lifted her gaze up at him, nearly making him stagger backwards.

He knew those eyes. He'd last seen them clouded with death in the middle of Afghanistan nearly twenty years ago.

They were Lee Unwin's eyes.

Lee Unwin, who had been in his regiment and had lost his life saving Harry's own.

Bloody hell.

 

 


	2. It All Sounds Quite Unlikely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gives Eggsy options and time to make her choices after her assault, and Eggsy reflects on what she really wants in life compared to what she's been getting out of it so far.

Harry had stayed in hospital while Percy made a run to a decent coffee shop to get something for both of them and for Eggsy. It wouldn't be much, but considering the lifestyle of the girl, a hot scone and some tea wouldn't be unwelcome.

Tea wouldn't be unwelcome for him either. Despite it having been just a few hours, Harry felt like it had been a day since they had found Eggsy and taken her to the hospital. It had been a rough few hours and tea would be quite welcome.

Harry pulled out his mobile and looked at the time. It was only a small space of time before they went back into the cubicle to ask her what her decision would be. They had presented the options to her before they had left her with some food and time to think it all over.

It was up to her now, what was going to happen and he hoped that her decision would easily dovetail into their investigation and the debt that he still owed her father.

He chewed on his lower lip as he walked back to the waiting area after using the bathroom.  As he walked, he went through his thoughts to double-check the facts and to make sure that he hadn't missed anything at all.  He knew that they were close to running out of time and that if she was released, they were going to lose her permanently. Girls tended to disappear and end up washed up on the shores of the Thames a few months later, decomposed enough to not be identified properly. Or worse, labelled as a Jane Smith and buried in a pauper's grave. No one would claim their bodies. No one cared enough. Or worse, their parents were halfway around the world and didn't speak the language well enough to demand answers in regards to their daughter's fate.

Eggsy didn't deserve that fate, to die by such a horrific misfortune. She needed to be safe and to be away from that lifestyle. And most importantly, she needed to be away from Dean Baker before he did some injury to the poor girl.

His thoughts were scattered to all directions as  Percy handed him another cup of tea, this one from an upscale shop and handed him a couple of cream packets as well before sitting down across from his partner and friend.  Percy didn't say anything as he took a sip from his own half-finished tea and waited for Harry to gather his thoughts up and decide on a course of action.  He made a face at the bitterness of it, but drank it down anyway. It was tea and tea helped no matter what the situation.

It was after several minutes of silence, after Harry took a sip of how on tea and frowned at the tepidness of it that the silence was broken.

“So you've given her all the options before we left her?” Percy asked.

Harry sighed and covered his mouth with his hand before replying.

“ Yeah, she's fully aware of all of them. Option number one is to get Social Services involved. If not, there must be some services or charities that can help if she's not keen on having her social worker called in. That would be the other option.”

He frowned at that and bit his lower lip.

“Social workers would mean a visit and Baker would be gunning for her after that.  Especially since they'd take the younger kid into services without questions. If we did manage to convince Eggsy to come with us, there'd have to be provisions for the mum and the sister.”

Harry nodded at Percy's logic.

“So what do we do exactly if she refuses them or they don't pan out? A legal solution if you will, Harry.”

Percy added when he saw the dangerous glint in Harry's eye. They were mostly by the book and yes, they did occasionally bed the rules and cut corners to catch the bad guys...But this was too damned close to the edge. Exploitation and prostitution cases were always tricky and if they wanted to bring down the big guns, they were going to have to make sure that all the t's were crossed and all i's were dotted. The last thing they needed to do was to have King breathing down their necks and Baker getting away on a technicality.

“We call in her social worker to clear out all the legal angles with her. Protective custody would be the next thing to get her and the sister into a home and wait for Baker to go after her.”

Harry replied, the glint gone from his eye as he pulled out his mobile and started thumbing through the contacts.

Percy was stunned at the simplicity of the plan. He had to admit that he was expecting something else, but it made sense to just go with the most basic and simple route if they were going to build up a case against Eggsy's stepfather slash pimp.

“Do you think she'll be okay with all of this?”

Percy asked as he drank the last of the tea and tossed the cup into the rubbish bin beside the bench he had recently occupied.

Harry's lips thinned as he thought about it. If they presented it in a reasonable way and wit the right presentation, it could be doable.

“I can't say for sure that she will be, but she must know exactly how much is at stake here. She didn't look like she was completely clueless about her situation or what this will mean if she goes home looking like that. We know Baker's not the epitome of charity, considering that he's pimped out his step-daughter without a second thought. He won't make it easy for her. So I'm cautiously optimistic.”

Percy nodded as he slipped his mobile out of his coat pocket and looked at the time.

 _“_ We'd better speak to herthen. We haven't got much time to lose.”

He didn't move though, and instead, pulled out his mobile and started to dial a number.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling Rox. I don't think that we'd be the best option to talk to her about this. Especially now that the adrenaline has worn off and reality's probably started to set in.”

Harry nodded, feeling like an idiot for forgetting that. Of course.

“Good catch. Tell her to bring some clothes if she can. Something warm and comfortable.”

Percy's eyes widened and he gave Harry a sharp jerky nod before greeting Rox.

~*~*~*~*~*

Eggsy’s bruised fingers pleated the fabric as she weighed the options that the DI’s had given her before they had left alone to think them over.  They had left her a cup of tea and a scone and she had devoured the scone in two bites and slurped down the hot tea with alacrity. She honestly couldn’t remember when it was the last time that she had actually had something more filling than a bitter cup of shite coffee laced heavily with cream and sugar to keep the hunger pangs away.

Once she was done that, it was simply a matter of waiting. She dug through her purse and breathed a sigh of relief at finding the money and her phone intact. She frowned when she saw that the battery had run out, but at least it was still usable once she got it charged.

She put it back in her purse and rubbed her forehead. Maybe it was a good thing that she was offline. The last thing she needed was for Dean or her mother to be calling her and threatening her (Dean) or giving her a guilt trip over her situation (mum) while trying to decide if she would accept the options that the DI’s were giving her.

She looked at the cup mournfully and wished that she had more of that scone. It was good. Maybe when they came back, she could get a few more for herself and for Dai-

She laughed softly at the thought and watched the seconds tick by on the utilitarian clock that schools and hospitals always seemed to have on hand.

Eggsy sighed and looked down at her hands. Three or four of her fingers were taped up after her nails were broken and a couple torn out when she struggled against her would be assailant. Her arm was broken and it throbbed dully with the promise of more pain to come later on. She was sure her face was a mess and it was sheer luck nothing was broken. Only bruised and swollen.

This was the first time it had gotten this bad. She knew that once word got out, it was going to be simply downhill from there. Dean wasn’t a good enough pimp to keep it from happening. Maybe it she stayed in the walk-up. But he had been adverse to the suggestion as an alternative when she had nearly been busted by the police. Her mum had been reluctant to speak up for her and Eggsy had her suspicions that it would mean competition between them and that if it came to it, Eggsy would come out on top simply because of her youth.

All of these things went through her mind as she watched the time tick away.

She appreciated the time they left her alone to think things over. But it was just a farcical courtesy, since they both new that she didn’t have too many options left to choose from and her best chance of actually coming out of it alive and with a chance at survival. She had to take anything that they gave her to make sure that Dean didn’t hurt her mum or Daisy.

As much as she mistrusted the police in most circumstances, she didn’t have the same antipathy as she usually for this Hart bloke and his partner.

For one, they had actually treated her with some dignity and like a human being other than human detritus when they had stopped that bad date from happening.  She had expected rough treatment and maybe outright contempt when she had come around again. But no. The DI with the kind brown eyes, Harry, had displayed none of that around her.

He had, in fact, covered her up with a threadbare blanket until the paramedics had shown up and started working on her injuries. He had even murmured quiet words of comfort to her when she hadn't been sure if she was going to stay or bolt away. The courteous behaviour continued at the hospital when she had been questioned and presented with what possibilities could happen regarding what decision she made.

Other girls got that kind of courtesy. The ones with non-junkie mothers. The ones who barely scraped together GCSE's and for whom college wasn't a distant dream. The ones with nice hair and clothes that didn't look like they were snagged from a discount shop for a few pounds and barely covered her tits or arse.

She liked it, to be treated like that. She wanted more of it, rather than to be seen as a commodity that was easily used and then discarded by the wayside once she had served her purpose.

She wasn't going to get that though, if she remained in the flat, picking up her mother's slack and enduring the abuse that Dean and the men that she ended up servicing in disgusting alleys or cramped and dirty cars. She'd continue, get busted and probably get hooked on something like her mum and end up in a city morgue somewhere before she even saw the good side of thirty.

She'd miss Daisy. She'd miss the small bit of space she had for herself.

But she'd miss being alive even more if she didn't take up Harry's offer.

Even though it was going against all of her ingrained instincts to not grass out anyone.

“Sure, it's a good skill to have, keeping silent. What has it done for you lately though?”

Eggsy asked herself, tasting the bitter weight and truth of the words she had just whispered aloud. She had kept her silence for so long and what had she gotten from it? Nothing but misfortune and abuse.

She was done with that.

Her hands clenched the blanket as she had made her decision.

Not long after, the curtains were pulled open and the DI's came into the space again.

She squared her shoulders slightly and looked them dead in the eye.

She was ready.

~*~*~*~*~

Dean woke up at Daisy's whimpers, which didn't seem to be ceasing at all. Usually, that slag of a wife or her tart daughter would be up and hushing her. He lay on the couch, ignoring the noise until the whimpers turned into outright wails that pierced his eardrums and made the hangover he was nursing bloom into a sickening headache. He lay there for a bit longer until Daisy started screaming.

“Michelle! Eggsy! Where the fuck are you damned slags? Can't you hear the baby?”

Michelle stumbled out of the bedroom, her mascara streaked down her face and her hair a mess as she pulled a thick robe shut tight and picked up Daisy from her pen.

“Where's that slut? Shouldn't be taking care of Daisy?”

Dean asked as he watched Michelle clumsily change their daughter and move into the kitchen to fix her a bottle, soothing her cries until they were nothing but sniffles. Although she was more than probably strung out and feeling last night's client, she was doing a tolerable job of taking care of their daughter's needs. Not as good as that Eggsy tart, but a fair enough job.

“She's not home yet.”

Michelle murmured once she got the bottle ready and gave it to Daisy, who put it in her mouth and started sucking on it happily, all tears forgotten.

Dean snorted and moved to the tea kettle, filled it and turned it on. He was needing some caffeine desperately. He could worry about the slag later.

She would come home, he was sure of it.

She always came home in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. Just a quick note-Eggsy is much younger than in the movie here. It is a purposeful move due to her being able to get more services in a situation as such. Also, I did research on the agencies, but I am being vague about them due to not coming up with names. I also am basing some of this on the Canadian model, which was mostly lifted from the UK, so I can hazard that there are similarities. 
> 
> Eggsy and her mum-I tend to write a darker relationship between them, which to me, feels more realistic than the movie relationship. In this universe, she is more manipulative and less concerned with the well-being of her children. 
> 
> Apologies for the long delay. I've been basically swamped at work and needing to go home.


	3. Stated My Name to the Officers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy gets settled into a safe location while the case starts rolling along.

Eggsy swallowed hard as they pulled up to a non-descript house in a neighbourhood that to her untrained eyes, looked posh and worlds away from what she had been used to seeing due to growing up on an estate. She clutched her purse tightly to her jumper clad chest and forced herself to remain calm. It wasn’t as if she was prone to hysterics usually, but it had been a trying night.

Roxy, the younger (albeit older than Eggsy) DI that had come to talk to her after Harry and his partner, sensed her reluctance and smiled encouragingly at her. She smiled back at the DI, despite knowing that it was a shadow of her usual smile.

Despite being surprised at the sight of her instead of the two coppers that had rescued her, Eggsy was soon put at ease at DI Morton (Call me Roxy) and her brisk, but sympathetic manner. It made Eggsy feel that deeply smothered pang of longing for a mother that acted in that same manner. Not overly smothering, but with just the right amount of sympathy and no nonsense to get through to her. If she had had someone like that in her life…

“ _Yeah, and if my gran had wheels, she’d be a bicycle.”_ Eggsy snorted humourlessly as she remembered Jamia’s favourite saying.

There was no point in wishing for what could never be. The only thing that she could do was to salvage what she could from this chance that had landed on her lap and run with it. Although she wasn’t going to let her hopes run away from her just yet. A hot shower and somewhere warm and comfortable to sleep would be the first things that she could hope for at that time.

DI Morton didn’t seem to mind the wan smile that Eggsy offered her. She hadn’t had much experience in these kinds of situations, but she figured that being kind and giving Eggsy enough space would be the best thing to do at that time. So far, Eggsy had been responding and she had to admit that it would have been touch and go with Harry and Percy if they hadn’t recalled protocol and decided to call her in.

“So here we are. It’s not much, but you’re guaranteed a bed and a locker to put your belongings in.”

Mor-Roxy told her as they exited the car and went up to the door, which was painted a sombre dark navy and had an old fashioned intercom speaker that Roxy pressed four times in alternating pattern of long, short, long, short. The door buzzed and they entered, with Eggsy in the front and Rox last, her eyes carefully sweeping the area surreptitiously before closing the door behind herself.

They were greeted by a woman in her late forties, with long brown hair pulled back from a tired, but kind heart-shaped face. She was wearing comfortable, if plain clothing and Eggsy wondered why that was the case until her eyes caught the glint of the plain gold chain and the crucifix that hung from it. A nun. That would explain the clothing and the genteel shabbiness of the place. It wasn’t a great manor, but within it was more comfort and safety than she had ever encountered in a place before and that went quite far to ease the worry that was welling up inside her.

“Sister Ignatius, I’m DI Morton. We spoke on the phone earlier. This is Gwen Unwin. But she prefers to go by Eggsy.”

Eggsy could have kissed her for remembering that. She knew it was a childish name, but her real dad had given it to her and she had so few things to remember him by that she was fiercely protective of it and bristled whenever someone wanted to call her Gwen. Yeah, it was her name, but it was a name that she never saw herself owning or fitting into.

Maybe when this was all over and she could walk away from it all…Maybe she’d think about taking it up. For the moment, she was going to remain Eggsy bar something even more earth-shattering happened.

If the nun thought that it was a weird thing that she wanted to be called “Eggsy” she gave no sign of it. In fact, all she did was smile warmly, but softly, as if Eggsy was a skittish cat that she particularly wanted to charm. She wasn’t wrong, Eggsy reflected as she found herself returning the smile, albeit not as wide as hers. She had been spooked and she knew she was edgy, even with the good stuff that they had given her at the hospital for her arm.

“Welcome, Eggsy. I hope that we can provide for some of your needs and get you started into a different life if that is what you’re looking for. I won’t overwhelm you with information as of right now, but we’ll discuss things after you’ve gotten a chance to get cleaned up, some food and sleep. How does that sound?”

“Perfect. Thank you, sister.”

Her voice was raspy and sounded as if she had a nasty smoking habit, but she didn’t want to just smile and nod at this woman’s kindness. Besides, she was probably going to do a hell of a lot of talking later. Might as well start now.

Roxy and the sister started talking as the sister started scribbling something on the clipboard that Eggsy had missed when she had been looking at the nun. It didn’t take long for Roxy to supply the information and for the clipboard to be passed on to Eggsy to sign. Once that was done, Roxy and the nun kept up the conversation as they headed towards the designated living quarters.

Eggsy didn't say much as she was ushered into the home past reception, the central area and finally into a small dormitory that had eight beds. Although she felt uneasy at being there, the tension was gone from her shoulders. She had to admit that despite the Dickensian feel of the place, she felt much more at ease and safer here than even in her own little bedroom back at the estate.

They paused at the bed closest to the wall. There are windows, but they were covered in thick, heavy duty glass that she recalled being the norm in her old comprehensive. She could also see the bars from the outside and despite being forbidding, they actually gave her more comfort and relief.

Dean wouldn’t be able to get her here. And if Daisy ended up here, it would be even better.

“This is your bed for as long as you need it. There is a small locker at the foot of your bed with some toiletries, a towel, and a nightgown. It’s nothing fancy-“

“Anything is welcome when you’ve ain’t got much, sister. Thank you.”

Eggsy interrupted, earning her an appreciative look from Sister Ignatius.

“You’re welcome, luv. Would you like to take a shower now? Or sleep?”

“A shower would be great, thank you, Sister.”

Eggsy replied in clear relief. The nun nodded and knelt gracefully to show her the small locker and the combination of the lock that fastened it shut. It took Eggsy only a couple of tries before she had memorized the numbers and opened it easily to reveal the promised toiletries and nightgown.

“Come on then. I’ll show you where it is. Roxy, would you mind waiting in the office?”

Roxy nodded and gave Eggsy a reassuring smile. “Let me know if you need anything else, all right?”

Eggys nodded, swallowing hard and giving up a small smile and inclined her head.

“Thanks. Much appreciated Roxy.”

~*~*~*~*~*

Roxy had just put her full mug of tea down on Sister Ignatius and had just sat down when her mobile rang.

“DI Morton.”

“It’s Harry. How is she doing?”

Roxy rubbed the bridge of her nose before taking a sip of her tea.

“Much better than expected. She’s in a much better headspace than most other ones, but that doesn’t mean that we can just start barrelling down on her at any given moment. Let her have a breather first.”

Harry made a small huffing sound of unhappiness, but he did mutter an affirmative to Roxy. They both knew she was right in putting the brakes on pressuring Eggsy too much and too soon. Even if a good chunk of the case was hanging on what she could give them.

“So what's next on the agenda then?”

“We patrol. The medics actually gave us a few good leads. We're going to start canvassing around the area where Eggsy was found, see if we get any leads to walk-ups or other girls themselves. Social services has also been called up. Maybe that will shake a few witnesses.”

“Keep me in the loop, allright?”

“Will do. And Roxy...Thanks.”

“Don't get sentimental on me, Hart. Just do your job.”

Harry laughed softly before hanging up, leaving Roxy rubbing her forehead and taking a big gulp of tea. She didn't want to hear thanks. Not when this was just the small tip of a huge iceberg.

But at least one girl had been saved from that iceberg and she supposed that it was a good start.

~*~*~*~*

“Jamia...Have you heard from Eggsy?”

Ryanne asked her friend as they walked down the streets looking for a late night shop to get some munchies and drinks before starting their shift at the fish and chip shop that saw way too much action on the weekends. It wasn't the best jobs that they could get, but then neither were they standing on street corners or fighting to be in a dingy walk-up.

They didn't judge Eggsy her profession. Not when she had been more or less threatened into it. They wanted for her to not do it and had even offered to get her a position at their shop or at the curry joint opposite of their shop, but she had always glanced over to where Dean or her mum were giving her undecipherable looks and they had stopped asking. It didn't stop them from slipping her some food sometimes, when she wandered in the wee hours of the morning, or a cup of tea if she looked particularly shaken up. She was their friend and they would help her as much as they would be able to.

Or as much as she was going to let them.

“Nah. I was going to ask you the same thing, actually.”

Ryanne made some unhappy noises as she hitched up the straps of her bag.

“She's not even texted and I'm starting to get worried.”

She pulled out her mobile and looked at the screen, sighing when she saw that there were no messages from Eggsy. She had tried texting, but she got no reply and it was starting to make her nervous. Everyone knew what kind of a homicidal arsehole Dean Baker was and the suspicion that he may have finally killed Eggsy and dumped her body somewhere had crossed Ryanne's mind more than once in the last few days. He had the temper and he and Eggsy didn't see eye to eye on almost anything other than spoiling Daisy so it wasn't a far stretch. She just hoped that she was wrong and that Eggsy had just gone off a couple of days to cool off somewhere.

She was about to make a comment on that nature to Jamia when her friend made a soft sound of dismay. Ryanne put her mobile back and swore quietly when she saw Jamia's face turn pale as she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Rottie and the rest of Dean's henchmen coming towards them. Ryanne grabbed Jamia's arm and forced her to calm down. Rottie and those idiots were quite like their namesakes: Once they smelled fear, they wouldn't let go.

“Stay cool.”

She whispered not a moment too soon, since Rottie and his gang of idiots came up to them not even a few moments after she had said this to Jamia, who gave a slight nod before schooling her features into a neutral mask.

“Dean wants to know if you've seen Eggsy. The slag's not been home for three days now.”

Jamia shook her head and Ryanne followed suit. Rottie's eyes narrowed at that.

“You sure? You've not seen her?”

He moved closer, making Ryanne give a squeak and Jamia gulp. But both shook their heads again.

“You two sluts better not be lying, cause you know what Dean does to people that lie to him.”

Jamia and Ryanne blanched at the threat. They knew very well what Dean Baker was capable of. Mel Jones' face was enough proof of that.

He got closer, and Jamia and Ryanne clutched at each other, their eyes too damned wide with fear despite their determination to not show it. He stood there, uncomfortably close for a minute before being satisfied and taking off, his lackies following right behind him.

Jamia and Ryanne watched them go, not daring to breathe until they were out of sight. It was only then that they let out sighs of relief and continued to the chip shop in silence.

They entered the shop and Jamia's greeting to Paul, the owner, died on her lips when she saw him talking to two slightly posh, but worn down looking professional types. DI's, it seemed, by the cut of their coats as they moved towards the girls.

“Ryanne? Jamia?”

The girls nodded mutely as the older of the two came forward.

“I'm DI Hart and this is DI Percival. We just need to talk to you about your friend, Eggsy Unwin.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The safe house is loosely based on one I read about during my research in regards to options for sex workers wanting a safe place or help in getting out of the lifestyle. Sister Ignatius is her own person. If anything, she would be based on a New Orleans nun that taught in my elementary in Guatemala years ago. 
> 
> I figured that Roxy would be a better choice for Eggsy to be with when she got dropped off at the safe house and in dealing with her during this time. Harry and company will show up again, but Roxy gets the delicate parts this time. 
> 
> Thank you for waiting and reading this fic. I am slowly getting the time and threads together for this story. It's the year end frenzy of going home for the holidays and exhaustion that hasn't left me with much time for this, so my apologies for the wait.


	4. I Try To Run And Understand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's trying to build a case while knowing that time is starting to run out. Dean just wants to get his business on track and is getting news that push him into making a decision. And Eggsy just can't seem to get much of a break, she finds out when she comes back to find two people she hadn't really expected to see there.

Dean glared at the screen of his phone angrily as yet another text appeared confirming all of his suspicions: Eggsy was good and gone. He didn’t think that she had been killed outright after that last date. No. There would have been an outcry in the news because of it. He and Michelle had kept their eyes on the news for different reasons, but nothing had come up. No girls fitting Eggsy’s general description had appeared, unharmed or otherwise.

So she was gone and the question was where exactly? As far as he was aware, Eggsy and Michelle had no relatives living nearby. Maybe Unwin connections somewhere in Wales or something. But no one that had suddenly decided that they would take in a damaged tart of a girl who had been turning tricks since her tits started bursting out of her worn school jumpers. So the relatives getting her out of the business and out of London was not a possibility.

No. Eggsy wasn’t that smart to have found relatives and gathered enough resources to take off. Not to mention that it wasn’t in her nature to do so. One thing that girl was, apart from stubborn, was loyal to a fault. He knew that and had exploited that feature of hers ruthlessly. She loved Daisy and Michelle with all her heart. There was no way that she’d cut and run from them.

He chewed on the matter a while longer as he bounced a fussy Daisy on his knee, ignoring the baby babble as he scrolled through the messages and waited for Michelle to finally wake up enough to get something for Daisy ready. He didn’t dare touch her cooking. Only Eggsy had learned the art of finding her way around a kitchen that didn’t involve re-heating takeaways.

Must have gotten that from her real da, Dean mused blackly. The only thing that he left her apart from a miniscule legacy that he was sure Michelle had never let her know about at his suggestion. He knew that if she had known, she would have been out of the flat in a heartbeat. She had plans. Too big for her station, those plans were. He had done a great job in keeping her on her back and on her knees, earning as much as her old cow of a mother and the scared Ukrainian and Kazakh girls he had gotten through some backdoor deals.

He needed her back.

And he would do anything possible to do so.

As he was putting a plan together on how that was going to happen, his phone beeped again.

“ _Yulia’s missing. Ran away during the night.”_

Dean swore quietly and put Daisy down in her playpen.

“Michelle! Take care of Daisy, will ya?”

Michelle came out of the bedroom with her hair only half done and her face scrubbed clean of makeup.

“What? Why? Are you gonna find Eggsy?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, something like that. I’ll be back in a bit.”

~*~*~*~*

Harry hummed tunelessly as he pored over the scribbled notes that he and James had taken and tried to fit them into some semblance of coherency before they reported their findings over to King. Eggsy, despite her early reluctance at saying anything, had finally opened up to them enough to tell them more information than they had been able to gather through their canvassing the area.

Between her and her friends, they had a working idea of how Dean’s business tended to operate in the estate and in the walk-ups in the South London area. Dean Baker looked like a man that had more fingers in more pies than they had suspected. He had been chalked up as a petty criminal and seeing the proofs of how far his business extended kind of made Harry angry. They should have caught him already, before things had spread that far. He knew why they hadn’t stopped him earlier. He wasn’t worth it. Not yet, as had been decided by the higher powers.

At least until they were getting Interpol reports of girls being outright bought from Riiga, Stockholm and ending up in the UK in the not so great parts of London. The West End was quiet about their business. The Russian restaurants had been shaken down ages ago and their man on the inside was keeping a tight grip on the operations until it was time to bring everything down. He had been keeping the operation quiet and had help from other agents that had infiltrated the organizations quietly.

So to hear of Ukrainians and Kazakhs in South London was worrying. They needed to shut it down, find the supplier and do it fast lest the West End got an inkling of what was happening there.

“So how is it looking?”

Harry raised his eyes from the scribbles and smiled tiredly at Roxy, muttering his thanks when she handed him a cup of strong, sweet tea and a scone.

“Like we have an actual case. Eggsy and her friends have filled in a whole lot of gaps. The question now is when do we strike?”

Roxy nodded and sat down on the chair reserved for suspects and pulled out her own notebook full of what looked like neat copperplate that Harry had to admit he was kind of jealous of. There was no way that she would have a hard time deciphering that when it came to writing up her own notes.

“I've got more from Eggsy ever since we talked a bit more since she's been under the sister's care.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at that. He hadn't seen Eggsy since he had last talked to her at the hospital. The nuns were adamant that no cops, boyfriends, husbands, or partners set foot in the home. He respected the rules, since they had helped other witnesses and had even given a few girls a chance at getting clean and coming straight rather than wallow in the misery of prostitution and drug addiction for the rest of their lives.

As much as he didn't want to disturb her as she was getting her life together, they needed more information and a promise of a few more reliable witnesses. Jamia and Ryanne were willing, but wouldn't talk unless they were promised protection. Harry didn't blame them for wanting that. He had seen the estate and the types of characters that Dean Baker employed. He was working on brokering a deal with the courts and hopefully they could get them a safe place and a way to start something new in a different part of London or even the country if they so chose.

“Do you think she'd be up for meeting us as well as her friends? We haven't gotten an actual official witness report from them.”

Roxy pursed her lips and fiddled with her sleeve.

“I don't know if we can push her that hard. She's doing great because nothing has really happened to her. She's in a safe place, guarded from the world, more or less. If the world starts coming to her, she might be volatile enough to run.”

Harry frowned. He knew that Roxy was right. Despite being a rookie, she could read people easily and she had been a godsend with Eggsy. Jamia and Ryanne hadn't needed as much delicate handling as Eggsy had, so they had done just fine with the girls and all the information that they were able to give them before they had to take off.

It was great information, but they needed more. If they wanted to nail Baker and send him and his operation away for a long time, they needed just that small bit more that Eggsy herself could provide and he had seen in prior cases that a whole load of information could be dropped in the guise of gossip.

And despite feeling like shit for seeing her as just another avenue of information, he had no choice in doing that. Not if he wanted to insure that she wasn't going to end up in a park with her throat slit and a look of horror on her face when she was found.

He cleared his throat to again ask the question in a different way when there was a commotion at the front desk. They both forgot the case and rushed to see what had happened or if they needed to be the backup.

“Oh Jesus.”

Harry whispered when he saw Ryanne's badly beaten up form holding the hand of a shocked girl, barely younger than she was, who was only mutely holding to Ryanne's hand. Both looked like they had gone through a war, but both were grimly determined to get what they came for.

“We need help, mate. Any kind that you can give.”

~*~*~*~*~

Eggsy clutched the shopping bag tightly, forcing herself to not walk so quickly or hunch her shoulders as if she was expecting a blow. She knew that she was safe in this part of the city. Dean and his goons didn't know where she was or what the place was. She was safe.

But she still couldn't shake the fear that was plaguing her even thought she was so close to returning after the small errand Sister Iggy had entrusted her on. It was small, but after not seeing the outside for nearly a week, she was crawling up the walls and she was grateful to go outside. Even if it was for milk and a bottle of squash.

She kept her head up and forced herself to square her shoulders in a confidence that she didn't feel. She knew that if she acted scared, she was easy pickings. So she forced herself to hold her head up high and made sure that her phone was in close reach in case anything came out at her. She looked around again. So far, it was just her and an old lady with her own shopping and one of those little pomeranians that Daisy called “Dandy Foxes”.

At the thought of Daisy, Eggsy bit her lip and hurried a bit more. She hadn't really said anything about her sister after she had been dropped off at Sister Iggy's. Mostly because she was sure that if she did say something, social services would swoop down and make a huge mess that Dean would no doubt pin on her. Despite all of his numerous faults, Dean at least loved his daughter. He wouldn't mistreat her like she did with Eggsy and Michelle.

And she wasn't going to test or push in any way if she didn't have to. She'd have to figure out a way to get her out with minimal pain and bloodshed on her side, mostly. Dean could take a beating as far as she was concerned. Lord knew that he was overdue for one.

Scoffing at the idea of Dean getting a beating, she made quick work of the last block and rang the doorbell in the same combination that Roxy had done almost five nights earlier. The door swung open to reveal a pale faced Sister Iggy and a grim-faced Roxy standing right behind her.

“What's going on?” Eggsy asked, quickly jumping inside and letting Sister Iggy slam the locks and bolts home before locking the door.

Roxy didn't say anything and instead stood back to reveal a bruised, but clean Ryanne that was wearing soft sweats and nursing a mug of tea. Across the table was another girl who Eggsy stared at for a few moments as she tried to figure out where she had seen her last. Her hair was long and a soft brown, slightly frizzy from the shower she no doubt had earlier. Her wrists were thin and delicate as a birds and she had rings of bruises around them. A mug was also in her hands and it wasn't until she raised her head and smiled that Eggsy knew where she had seen the other girl.

She had been wearing too much make up, heavy around the eyes and in garish colours that did nothing to accentuate her fey looks. She wasn't Russian, Eggsy knew that. She was from one of the Central Asian places. The ones that always tended to remind her of that Coleridge poem that she had to recite in one of her English classes for a good chunk of her marks.

It wasn't until she saw those almond shaped, hazel eyes that Eggsy knew who it was.

“Yulia!”

Yulia smiled at the sound of her name and Eggsy forced herself to smile back. She was glad that Yulia had gotten out. She really was.

The problem was that now with two of his girls missing, Dean was going to go mental and on a rampage that wouldn't stop until they were back under his thumb or dead.

Eggsy looked at Roxy and saw that the young DI was having the same thoughts.

“I'm going to call DI Hart and DI Percy. We have to move.”

~*~*~*~*~

Dean ground down the cigarette he was smoking as he waited for his phone to beep.

“ _Nothing yet. And Ryanne, that friend of Eggsy's gone. Coppers were talking to her earlier.”_

Dean grit his teeth and swiped his thumb to reply.

“ _Put out the word out to go underground. I need anything you can find about those two. I'll take them down myself.”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit that I wanted to get more things slotted into place with this chapter with Dean not taking things lightly and with Harry needing more than just a few testimonies. I don't pretend to be a cop, but I do try to research and if there are mistakes, I claim them as my own or products gleaned from Canadian and UK Cop shows. 
> 
> Eggsy-I know that usually Eggsy is like a brick wall, but even the toughest people have their vulnerabilities. She also knows that there's a prize on her head and she has been at the receiving end of Dean's violence, so I am writing her as jumpy. She's also not had real and permanent safety in her life, so there's also that. 
> 
> If there are any mistakes, they will be fixed at a later time. I also will try to get another chapter out soon, but I am going home for Christmas and am trying to get my place and my workplace in order for the New Year. Thank you for your patience and all that are reading!


	5. My Defence Drawn On The Palm Of My Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean's debts get called in and he comes up with a plan to even the score. Eggsy and Harry meet with someone whose plans dovetail neatly into theirs, but requires a sacrifice that may turn out tragic for Eggsy and Harry if they don't play their cards right.

It was a posh restaurant on Chelsea that Dean wouldn’t have ever seen regularly. I wasn’t a place that would have pinged on his radar but now that the problems had arisen due to Eggsy and Yulia, he didn’t have much of a choice in the manner. He had been summoned by a Teddy-boy looking bloke that was quiet, but the look in his grey eyes was anything but that. The suit he wore was dark, non-descript and clean and probably cost more than Dean made in a month. Even with his business as good as it was. It just had that kind of look to it.

So Dean knew that the ante had been lifted and he had to rise up the challenge if he wanted to survive the meeting in case it didn’t go the way that he hoped it would. He found a suit and left Michelle and the rest of the boys behind. It was a risky move, but he was painfully aware of the disadvantage that their presence would give him in negotiations. Michelle may have been his wife and his top tart, but she was getting on in age and her profession was writ large on her face and body. Rotti was dumb and looked it. No. He’d take the risk of walking into the den of his suppliers. 

The same grave man was outside the restaurant, perched on an ancient, but well taken care of, motorcycle. He didn’t know the exact make and model, but it looked like it was Russian, if the owner was any indication. In the daylight, he looked more sinister than mellow and the well-pressed suit and shirt did little conceal the quiet air of menace that seemed to permeate the general vicinity of the man. Dean suppressed a shudder as those water-grey eyes focused on him. He knew he was a hard man, but he also knew that deep down, he had nothing on that Russian.

“Semyon waiting inside. Last table.”

He pointed to the doors with an unlit cigarette between his fingers. Dean nodded and took the directions, not sparing the man a look as he entered the opulent room. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the plush, velvet interiors and to find the table that the man outside told him about. 

He knew he was at the right spot when he saw the young, feral looking man arranging flowers in bundles.He was lithe and wiry and had a 1920’s Peaky Blinders type of haircut for his dirty blonde hair. His face was narrow and his mouth was taut as he focused on the task in front of him. Dean couldn’t tell exactly how tall this man was. But he could guess it was somewhere near six feet. His hands moved deftly, his entire concentration on the flowers.

It looked like a non-descript task, but Dean knew the trick, since he used it himself whenever he needed to meet with a rival or an underling. He cleared his throat and stood there, feeling awkward until the man finished tying the last bundle together and put it down on the left side of the table. He looked up and Dean was discomfited to note that he had the same intense eyes as the man outside. The only difference being that they were icy chips of blue rather than grey. 

“Mr. Baker. I am pleased to see you here. Please sit.”

The man, Semyon, gestured to the chair across from him and Dean sat down quickly. 

“We seem to have a mutual problem, Mr. Baker. Yulia has not been seen in days. Your girl, Eggsy, she gone too, yes?”

Dean nodded, deciding that keeping quiet was probably in his best interest.

“We think, girls are hiding. We need them back before police grab them and trace them back to us, yes?”

Dean nodded again. Semyon’s eyes narrowed.

“They are your girls, mostly. What plan do you have?”

Dean swallowed hard as his mind raced through the half-arsed plans that he had cooked up from the time that he had gotten the news that Yulia had run after Eggsy had disappeared. 

“I have a plan. I just need some time to put it in action.”

Semyon smiled faintly. “Can you tell me what you plan?”

“It’s...It’s a simple one. We draw Eggsy out, Yulia will come out as well.”

Semyon smiled. “How you do that?”

Dean’s smile was cruel thing to behold. 

“I have someone that she cares about. She will come back.”

Dean explained, making Semyon smile chillingly. 

“Good. Good. You have two days to do this, because if you don’t, Mr. Barker…”

Dean didn’t see the man coming. He only saw the aftermath of that speed.

~*~*~*~*~

Harry and Eggsy sat on one side of his dining table, mugs of tea and sandwiches in front of them. On the other side sat a man that made Eggsy want to shrink in on herself. Despite the understated and expensive suit he wore and the carefully combed hair, there was an air of menace around the man that promised more than just a few bruises and a beating. No, whoever messed with this bloke was in for broken bones, bruises and hospital visits at the least. Death and dismemberment at the worst. He hadn’t done anything to make her think that he was dangerous, but there was something in his eyes that she had seen in that john who had beaten the shite out of her and broken her arm. 

Despite knowing that he was probably safe (otherwise, why would Harry let the man inside his house if he wasn’t? Eggsy asked herself when she had first seen him) she was still wary of the man and the potential of violence within him. But still, if Harry trusted him, she would sit there and listen carefully to what he had to say to her. So she clutched at her mug tightly and waited for him to deliver the news that Harry had a hard time composing himself from outright demanding from the character with the salt and pepper hair.

“It’s just like you say, Hart. He will use Daisy to draw little girl here out. He wants her and figures that if he bribes her with her sister, she will do anything. Give herself up. Give Yulia up.”

He told Harry in a surprisingly smokey voice that made Eggsy think of the malt whiskey that Harry had given her a two fingers of before the man had come to the house. 

Harry leaned back and rubbed at his mouth as his mind whirred with the information that Niko had given him. He looked at Eggsy, whose lips had gone bloodless at the news and had to resist the urge to pat her shoulder in a comforting gesture. She looked so differently from the first time he had seen her, so much like a fragile child that he couldn’t help but to want to do everything in his power to help her. Even when he wanted oh so desperately to console her and reassure her that it would all work out somehow. 

“He’s fucking mental if he thinks I’m going to stand there and do nothing while he hurts Daisy. I can’t let him hurt her. She’s my sister.” She turned to Harry and clutched at his sleeve.

“He’s expecting you to that. He’s told Semyon as much and it won’t go well for you, little girl.”

The man told her, his accent thick when he spoke, his eyes losing their darkness and softening for a few seconds before they went back to their steely grey. His hands clutched tightly at his mug before he took a long swallow of the strong, sweet tea in it. He put it down and looked at Harry.

“So what do you plan to do then? He will hurt Daisy if he doesn’t get Eggsy or Yulia.”

“He won’t hurt Daisy. She is his daughter. It will be my darling mother who will bear the brunt of his anger. And as much as I despise her for selling me to him without a fight, she doesn’t deserve that.”

Harry again looked at her in surprise before turning to look at Niko, who smiled thinly as he traced the pattern of Harry’s tablecloth. 

“It would be perfect for a trap, if she went. We could give aid to you, since we can’t show our hand just yet. Syoma and I need more time to wrap up the operation. Dean being brought in by us would blow our cover much too soon.”

Eggsy looked down at the table and noticed the faded tattoos on the man’s knuckles. She knew, from a bit of research she had done, that they meant he was in deep.Those markings had taken years to earn, that much was obvious by the faded colour of the ink. To have al that work be ruined just because of timing was not something that she could take so casually. 

Harry saw Eggsy’s expression change and for a moment, he was back in Afghanistan, looking at Lee Unwin before they left the safety of the side of the half-destroyed building they had been sheltering in. He knew, from the minute that he had seen her, that she was exactly like her father and she would do no less than Lee would have done in the situation. 

He sighed heavily. 

“Niko, when do you think it would be a good time to do it then?”

~*~*~*~*~

Eggsy found herself nervously jumping from foot to foot as she waited for the light to change. She chewed on her lip as she walked across the street to the agreed on time and place that Dean had texted her. Despite knowing that Harry and Percival were nearby along with Roxy in the restaurant, she was still nervous. She hadn’t seen him in almost a week and a half, the longest time ever since her mother had married him and had become his first girl. 

_ “He’s not going to hurt you. And if he tries, he won’t get away with it.” _ She told herself over and over as she looked up to make sure that she had the address correct. She frowned when she saw the place she was supposed to meet Dean. 

The place looked posh, Russian and very foreign. Somewhere that he wouldn’t regularly be caught dead in. But then, Eggsy reminded herself, it made sense since Yulia had come from somewhere in Siberia and Dean would have to answer to them. She recalled Niko’s eyes and wondered if he had been one of those brokers, but pushed the thought away quickly. She didn’t need to be any more nervous than she already was. Niko, despite knowing what side he was on, still made her nervous. 

She forced herself to push everything to the back and concentrate on the meeting. She needed all of her wits about her. Dean may have been an utter estate thug, but he hadn’t lasted that long without having some kind of intelligence. And she had lost more confrontations with him than she had won in the past, so she kept that in mind. 

Eggsy entered the quiet tea room and smoothed down the skirt of the dress that Roxy had lent her, along with the jacket, tights and shoes. They were showy, but not overly so and she was glad that Roxy had great taste in clothes so that she wouldn’t look too out of place in the tea room. She was guided to a table in the middle of the dining room where Dean sat with a pot of tea and two cups waiting and ready. 

“Dean.” 

He looked up at her and Eggsy had to force herself to remain blank-faced at the sight of the blackened eye that was swollen shut. She could only imagine what kind of force had given him that black eye. He had definitely pissed someone off, that was for certain. 

“”Gwennie. So glad that you could make it. Have some tea.”

Dean greeted her, the friendliness in his voice forced as he poured her a cup and added milk to it. Eggsy’s eyebrows raised as she saw that and deduced that he must have been desperate if he was extending those courtesies to her. She took a seat and the cup and decided to not comment on the hated, childish nickname that she detested. 

She took a sip of the tea and savoured the strong, fragrant tea that was a rarity at home. She took a longer swallow and put the cup down. As much as she enjoyed the tea, she wasn’t there for business. Dean knew it too and drank down more than half a cup in one swallow before he crossed his hands in front of him and looked at her coldly. 

“Where’s Daisy?”

Dean smiled lopsidedly at that, showing strong, but yellowed teeth. “With Rottie. In the booth over there.”

He gestured nonchalantly to the third booth on the right, and sure enough, Daisy was sitting there, not looking terribly happy, but clean and well taken care of. Rottie didn’t look any happier, but Eggsy couldn’t give a damn about his feelings. Daisy was safe and that was all that mattered. If everything worked out like it was supposed to. 

“I fulfilled my part of the deal. Are you going to do your part?”

Eggsy swallowed hard and she nodded, mentally cringing at the idea of that life closing in on her like a steel trap. Even though she knew that it was just to get Daisy into her hands and they would be safe under Harry and Roxy’s protection. She forced herself to pick up the tea and drink it again to buy some time. 

Dean sat back and smiled widely, following her example and taking a long swallow of his own tea. 

“I’ll let you off for a week to get ready if you give me where Yulia’s hiding. There’s some people that want to look at that pretty face of hers again.”

Eggsy tilted her head and sighed. 

“I don’t know. It’s not like I’ve seen her since.”

Dean’s goodwill evaporated as quickly as it came and she had expected it. She stood up and backed away from the table, knowing his penchant for violence no matter where he was. 

She was right in backing away. Dean wasted no time in sweeping the table out of the way and lunging at her. She ducked out of the way and ran towards Rottie, both of them ignoring the waiters yelling at them for the chaos that they had created. 

She ignored him and grabbed Daisy out of Rotties lax grip. Her little sister didn’t make a peep as she rushed to the doors, determined to get the hell out before Dean caught her and Daisy.  Eggsy sprinted the last few yards and had her hand pressed against the glass when she felt her side suddenly burst into fire and Daisy screaming. 

_ “Oh. I’ve been hit.” _

Eggsy thought as she collapsed against the glass doors, her eyes blinking furiously as she touched her side and stared uncomprehendingly at the blood on her hand. Daisy was tugged away from her, but Eggsy pulled her back with all the strength she could muster.

“It is fine, little girl. Niko will keep sister safe.” 

She heard a thickly accented voice tell her as Daisy was eased out of her nerveless grip. Eggsy blinked again, her thoughts going through her head as if through water as she wondered why so many people were screaming behind her. She started to feel cold and she closed her eyes just a bit before she was shaken awake by a harried and bloodied Harry. 

“-Don’t close your eyes! Eggsy! Stay with me! The ambulance is on its way! Eggsy! Eggsy!”

~*~*~*~*~*

“I must say that congratulations are in order to you, Hart and Percival. You managed to bring Baker in and have two witnesses. You have done very well, indeed. Keep this up and you will make Chief Constable very quickly.”

Harry wanted to tell King to go fuck himself, but Percy’s grip on his arm made him control himself enough to reply. 

“Thank you sir. We have done our best to bring Baker and his operation to a close.”

It wasn’t as polished as his usual answers, but it seemed to appease King enough to dismiss them. Something that Harry wanted desperately.

“Are going back to hospital?”

Percy asked as he popped a can of dandelion and burdock root pop and took a swig of it. 

“Is it that obvious? I know that they told us she was in good hands...But-”

“It wasn’t your fault, Harry. No one expected that idiot to have fired off a gun in Semyon’s restaurant. There’s always a glitch in plans of this nature. Eggsy’s a strong girl. I have no doubt that she’ll make it.”

Harry ran his hands through his hair, sighing heavily. 

“I hope so. Daisy needs her.”

Percy looked at him sharply.

“Indeed. Are you sure she is the only one?”

Harry didn’t reply and Percy clasped his shoulder.

“I do hope you are doing this for the right reasons, Hart and not out of a misguided sense of duty. Be careful.”

Harry smiled faintly before saying goodbye and heading to hospital. 

Despite being a stickler for work, Percy and Roxy had forced him to go into the station rather than fobbing off his investigation to his partners. He hadn’t wanted to leave Eggsy in the hospital, despite the assurances he had gotten from the A&E doctors that she would be well taken care of. He blamed himself for putting her in danger, even though she had been the one to agree to be bait. 

Just like her father to sacrifice herself, he had thought as he had brought down Dean Baker while Percy took down the idiot that had shot Eggsy. Semyon had acted quickly, acting every inch of the distraught restaurateur as he called an ambulance and held a thick towel against Eggsy’s side to stanch the bleeding. She had won the case for them, but she had been badly injured in the process and if she died…

Harry refused to think on that outcome. He couldn’t bear to think about her losing her life when she had finally been able to start the first steps of building a new life and giving her sister a fighting chance out of the dismal circumstances she had been born in. He recalled Percy’s words as he walked through the halls and then conferred with the doctors.

“She was lucky that the bullet went through and didn’t do major damage to her organs. Her liver was nicked, but it was taken care of quickly.Barring infections or complications, Ms. Unwin should fully recover.”

Harry’s breathing came easier when he heard that and his limbs felt rubbery when he walked to her room in the ICU.

“It’s done. Lee. I’m just sorry it took so damned long to do so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit weird to write, since I wanted more action than the previous ones, and of Eggsy getting her agency back once she understands that Daisy is being used as a bargaining chip. I also did put in a few easter eggs in regards to the Russian agents. Semyon is modeled after Semyon Varlamov and Niko is a shout-out to Nikolai Luzhin. I liked their characters enough to have them be agents here. 
> 
> Other than that, it has been edited, but will be tweaked later is mistakes persist, song used for the titles is "Bad Law" by Sondre Lerche. Also, happy Boxing Day!


	6. Death Cannot Take Hold, If I Can Keep Momentum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Percy make plans for the future and Harry starts to see Eggsy in a different light than he had previously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a tie to the last chapter. I wanted to wrap up what would happen with Eggsy and Daisy after the case was wrapped up. There will be another chapter after this one, rather than just leave it as is. 
> 
> Thank you very much for your patience. Family and coming back to work have kept me in a state without little time or desire to write until this weekend. It was a lucky break (A snow day. I basically live in the Canadian version of behind the wall, kind of place) that had me with enough time to finish this chapter. 
> 
> Title is from Aesgir Trausti's "King and Cross". If mistakes appear, they will be fixed. I am also going by the Canadian services system, which looks to be similar to the UK one. I'm not a social worker (I have had to work with them due to the nature of my job) and if there are mistakes, I will gladly fix them. I did research, but again, not really my field.

Harry was staring blankly at his desk when Percy came by with two cups of tea and the day’s newspaper. Harry barely glanced over as he kept reading and re-reading the letters he had laid down on the surface. He was still in shock over the past week’s events, still not believing really, that they had finally wrapped up the case that felt like it hadn’t been going anywhere for so long and was concluded in less than a few week’s worth of work.

Not only was it done, but he had finally paid off the debt to Lee Unwin that had been haunting him for years. He had also rescued Gwen Unwin from a life she had been trapped in and managed to keep Daisy out of following the path of her incarcerated parents as well. Both girls were in the care of child services and fosterage was being actively discussed.

So why the hell was he so numb about the outcome?

“Something on your mind, Harry?”

Percy asked, pushed the takeaway cup lightly towards Harry, who finally looked up to his partner as if he was just noticing him.

“Oh, christ, Percy. Tell me you haven’t been standing there too long.” Harry groaned as he picked up the cup and drank down the still hot tea.

“Just a few minutes. You really were out of it and I was waiting for you to snap out of it,  but you kept staring at those letters. What’s up with them?”

Harry grimaced and gestured for Percy to sit down on the empty chair across from his desk.

“One of them is from King. He’s giving us time off for a job well done.”

Percy’s eyebrows raised to almost his hairline at the news. “Are you bloody joking or something? King, giving us time off? Let me see that.”

He didn’t wait for Harry to hand it over and simply grabbed it from the desk and skimmed it quickly, his eyebrows still raised in surprise as he handed it back.

“I have to wonder at the sudden goodwill we’re seeing here. I mean...This is the man that hasn’t taken a leave that wasn’t forced upon him for decades. It makes me wonder about the sudden outburst of goodwill. We did wrap up a case, but still.”

Harry smiled wryly at Percy’s assessment, the idea having had crossed his mind when he had read it himself.

“I’m going to hazard a guess that it was from higher above than he is used to and it wasn’t an option to give it either, but an order.”

Harry replied as he folded it and neatly put it back in its envelope before it went into his desk.

“I’m also going to make an educated guess that Niko and Semyon had a hand in this as well.”

Percy smiled faintly at that. He had finally met them and despite being aware that they were on their side, their appearance still made his instincts go haywire. In retrospect, he supposed that was why they were such great agents.

“Well, it was a big deal, what happened in the restaurant and that probably hurt their cover and then some. It would be a smart thing to lie low at this time. Even if we were peripherally involved in the entire ordeal.”

Harry nodded, drinking more of his tea. “That’s a smart move now that Baker’s loose end has been taken care of.”

Percy shrugged. “It’s what I would do if I were in a position of power. Good cops are scarce, as is getting one part of a long con finished.”

He leaned over to look at the other letter and tapped at the letterhead.

“What do child services want with us? We already wrote them a detailed report of what Gwen was forced to do and why Daisy was at the restaurant. Do they want more details?”

Harry shook his head. He put his cup down, sighing heavily as he picked up the letter and handed it to Percy to read. He couldn’t really articulate what was going on in his head when he had read it. In fact, he was still trying to puzzle through it when Percy showed up. He watched his friend skim through the paperwork, his expression growing even more surprised until he was practically gaping at the letter once he reached the end.

“Well. That is certainly _not_ a request for more information.” Percy stated once he had gotten himself under some semblance of control.

“I know and I still haven’t decided on what course of action to take on it. I know first hand what the foster system and child services systems are like. Considering the trauma that Eggsy has gone through...That’s not the place for her. Or her sister.”

Percy nodded in understanding. He knew exactly where Harry was coming from. They had had to deal with enough child abuse cases during their careers. Some bad enough that they still kept him up at night with a bottle of whiskey to chase away the ghosts until he was sane enough to continue. He could only guess that it was the same thing for Harry.

But to step in and take custody of an abused and traumatized couple of girls? That was a serious step to undertake. Maybe Daisy...His wife had been hinting about maybe having another kid. Maybe he could talk to her and they could come to an agreement.

It certainly would make the decision easier on Harry if it was just one he needed to make a decision on whether he was going to take in the girls or leave them to take their chances with the overworked and understaffed services. Something that he hoped wasn’t the choice that Harry would make in the end.

“It’s not an easy decision to make. Especially with the lives we lead and the hours we keep.”

Harry grimaced. They didn’t work regular hours, but it could be done. He could carve a niche for them in his life. He couldn’t leave them to the winds and hope that they would end up okay. Especially not when it was Lee’s daughter he was talking about. Yeah, he had more or less discharged his obligations to him, saving his daughter from a sure death. Yet...He couldn’t just walk away after the intensity of their contact with each other.

“I know. But I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I simply refused to take them in. No. I’ll take custody of them. It’s the only thing to do.”

Percy nodded. “I think though, I could help somewhat.”

Harry looked at his friend curiously. “How do you propose to do that?”

Percy smiled. “Just write the letter. I’ll explain as you draft it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“This will be your room for as long as you want it.” Harry told Eggsy as she stepped into the place slowly.

It had been three weeks since the sting had gone down and just one since Eggsy had gotten released from the hospital. The wound was still healing, they told her, so she had to take it easy. As much as she wanted to bounce into the room and examine every single inch of it, she simply had to slow down and hope that Harry could tell she was utterly thrilled and grateful at the chance simply by her voice.

The room was perfect. Like something out a catalogue with some of her movies and tattered books already in place on the shelf. She was touched that Harry had done that for her. Especially since he didn’t have to. She was a means to an ends, she had told herself when she was still in the hospital. Yet Harry had gone out of his way to make her realize that wasn’t the case.

She hadn’t really thought about what would happen after she was released. She had been in a haze of medications the first week and only had a vague understanding that her life had changed. It wasn’t until the second week that Harry and Percy had sat down with her that she finally understood she wasn’t going to be going back to the flat.

Her mum had been arrested for child endangerment and intent to distribute. Even if the cops had been inclined to listen to her protests that they weren’t her drugs, they didn’t care. Everyone knew what had happened with Eggsy and Daisy and half of the block was silent as she was dragged off. No one was going to miss Michelle and Dean Baker, that was for certain.

Eggsy knew she should have felt bad about that, but the only emotion that she registered was relief at finally being able to free from their clutches. She had expected to go back home then, with Daisy and hopefully find a job and raise Daisy.

“The council gave the flat to another family on the waiting list. You’re too young to hold it and with what was going on there...It’s not looking likely that they would.”

Eggsy blinked and her jaw clenched as she absorbed the blow.

“So where are Dais and I supposed to go?”

Harry and Percy looked at each other before they pulled out a sheaf of paperwork with the Child Services logo stamped on the pages and forms.

“Child Services has asked myself and Percy to take custody of you two. You’d be living with me and Daisy would be living with Percy and his family.”

Harry cleared his throat. “Or you can both live with Percy. It’s your choice. Or you can be-”

“No. It’s fine. It’s better this way.”

Eggsy interrupted sharply. She wasn’t going to argue her good luck then. She had seen first hand what those offices were like and what kind of services they provided. Which were very little. Ryanne was walking proof of that. No. She wasn’t going to turn down that offer.

Even if it meant being away from her little sister for most of the time. Besides, as much as it pained her to admit it, she hadn’t had that much time for her in the past couple of years. It would be good for her to be in a stable home.

Harry and Percy exchanged a look and Eggsy pretended to not see it. She knew that they were utterly relieved that she had agreed to their proposal, since she knew that they were worried she would walk away from them after being shot. She wouldn’t. Not when they had made more of an effort to help her than most other people in her life had.

“So when does this happen?”

After that, things had gone fast. Percy had visited her in the hospital with his wife and Daisy and seeing her little sister bright-eyed, clean and _happy_ had told her that she had made the right decision. Daisy wouldn’t grow up messed up. She would have a shot at the life that Eggsy was once sure would be shut for either of them.

She was still in shock at how things had changed and how quickly it had happened. Even now, as she looked at the plain, but tastefully decorated room, she still was waiting for everything to go to hell. For Harry to give her a time limit to get her A Levels and a job and get out. He hadn’t and from the look on his face as she looked at the furniture (clean and elegant and in her favourite shades of deep blue and cream) and the prints on the wall, she knew it wouldn’t ever come.

“So...What do you think? Daisy helped to pick out the colours.”

Eggsy swallowed hard at that, utterly touched that Harry had yet again gone above and beyond for her.

“It’s great...You outdid yourself here, Harry. Thank you.”

Eggsy thanked him, squeezing his hand before moving forward and missing the flush on Harry’s face.

“Yes, well...You helped us close the case. It’s the least I could do. Really, it was nothing.”

Eggsy turned her head and smiled at him, missing the way that his pulse fluttered rapidly in his neck.

“Yet you did it and it counts. So thank you.”

Harry swallowed at the intensity of her gaze and the serious look in her green eyes. It was doing things to him that made him feel like an utter perv. She was his charge. He was never going to go there.

Never.

“Are you hungry? I stopped by the curry shop and got some for dinner tonight..”

He knew it wasn’t the smoothest transition he had ever done, but it did lighten the mood. Eggsy’s face lit up at the mention of curry takeout and she nodded.

“Great! I’ll, uh, get it sorted out in the kitchen while you put your stuff away.”

He saw her nod and he left the room as casually as he could have. Yet he knew he had failed by the undecipherable look in Eggsy’s eyes.

He groaned inwardly and vowed he would learn to be a better actor.


	7. I'm Ready For It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life goes on for Eggsy, Daisy, and Harry. It also means that Harry has to finally voice his feelings for Eggsy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short summary, but this is the coda for this story. This week was brutal and I wanted to write a proper send off for this series. 
> 
> Title borrowed from Kodaline's "Ready" which was the soundtrack to finishing this. 
> 
> If mistakes appear, they will be fixed.Proofread, but some always sneak by.

The alarm chirped some pop song that Daisy was obsessed with and that Eggsy was going to make sure that when she was more awake, she would take off from her alarm. It was bad enough that she had the early morning shift with Ryanne, but to wake up to that rubbish? That was the icing on the cake.

“Eggsy? If you still want the ride to the station, you need to be here in half an hour!”

Groaning, she shut her alarm and shoved herself out of bed, making her sleepy way to the loo to get cleaned up. Once she had done that and put on some minimal makeup and was on her way to get dressed when Harry shouted up the stairs again.

“Eggsy!” Harry’s voice cut into the early morning sleepiness and she grimaced, coming completely awake at the second shout.

“Allright! I’ll be down in a few!”

Eggsy didn’t hear Harry’s reply as she got dressed rapidly in her still too new uniform.

She had been told by her supervisor that it would get more comfortable as her probation passed, but whenever she touched the still scratchy fabric, she highly doubted it. No matter how many times she washed her uniforms, they still retained the same shape that they had when she had just received them, fresh from the supply office.

She checked herself out and still couldn’t help the childish pride at seeing her reflection in the mirror brought her. It was a far cry from her teenage years and the humiliation of being stuffed in cheap rayon and polyester that hid nothing. She would trade starch and an uniform in dire need of breaking in than have to relive the humiliation of her teenage years.

She pursed her lips and went to the bathroom to fix the last few details that would make her into the probie officer Unwin, rather than just plain old Eggsy from the South London council blocks.

Eggsy pulled her hair tight, plaiting it close to her head as she worked. She had been carefully drilled on why keeping her hair out of the way was important, so she made sure that there was nothing to grab. Satisfied at her handiwork at last, she tied it off with a hair tie and put her hat on her head, adjusting it until it sat properly. It was a small thing, but she was quite proud of having it.

She then checked the rest of her uniform: White shirt, tie properly done, blue jumper and properly creased trousers. The yellow jacket would come later. It wasn’t her favourite article of clothing, but it came with the uniform. Daisy had said she looked like a highlighter to which Eggsy had replied that was the point. The public needed to see her in order for her to do her job properly. Harry wisely had refrained from saying anything and only shaken his head at the banter.

“I never realized how lucky I was when I just started out in the force until I saw that was part of the uniform.” Harry had told her the first day she had shown up in her proper uniform after passing all of the requirements and being accepted into the force. She would still be on probation, but Eggsy and Harry were confident she would be applying for a speciality in no time. Harry even secretly hoped that she would want to be a DI like him, Percy and Roxy and continue the legacy her father had hoped to achieve once he had finished his tour in the navy.

Maybe she could even move up the ranks or be part of a specialized squad. Maybe even up to MI5. Eggsy had the brains to do it and Harry had to admit that even though those were fond hopes, he didn’t breathe them outloud to her in case she felt pressured to do that exact thing if she had other plans other than being in the force. After her experiences with parental expectations, the last thing that Harry wanted to do was smother her in a different way.

Especially not if it meant it would drive her away, something that he couldn’t bear to happen. He had nearly lost her those three years ago. He didn’t think that he could get over doing so again.

In the past five years since Eggsy had come to live with him, they had fit quite well into each other’s lives. Something that he hadn’t really thought possible. In fact, whenever things got particularly rough and he needed to call Roxy and Poppy, James’ wife, he had to wonder if it was all going to go to pot and he would be saying goodbye to Eggsy.

But that time never came. The tempestuous first year, when they had many arguments, followed by days of silence until one or the other calmed down, had seemed to settle that argument. Eggsy’s adjustment to a normal lifestyle, with someone who actually gave a damn and expected her to act like the teenager she was supposed to be had been a difficult adjustment for Eggsy.

It was also made a bit more difficult by her missing Daisy. No matter how many times she visited Poppy, Daisy and James’ other two boys, Olly and Davey, it took her a long time before she had come to terms at not having to be her sister’s minder or being around her every spare moment that she had. Harry supposed that the counselling sessions and her actually getting enrolled in college helped in that regard. 

It had also helped that Ryanne and Jamia had also gotten support and gotten enrolled, all three of them being in the same place had really helped them to get out of the council estate mentality and giving them ambition. Ryanne and Eggsy had decided after poring over catalogues for courses that the police force was the best place for them. Jamia hadn’t followed them there and had opted to get a course in cosmetology and work in a salon.

“Never was into uniforms like you two weirdos and everyone always needs their hair done.” Jamia had pointed out once they had decided on what they were going to be doing for hopefully the rest of their working lives. Yulia had agreed and they both had entered the course and pooled enough money together (mostly from Yulia’s settlement) and gotten a small shop up and running.

It hadn’t been anything that Harry had expected her to do, if he was honest. He had to admit though, that it was an obvious career choice for Eggsy to be a copper. She had basically gotten a second chance and a life due to the police, so it made sense for her to become one. Even if it was about eighty-percent patrolling noisy, but not wholly busy streets and twenty percent action.

“Allright Harry! I’m up! I’m up!” Eggsy exclaimed when she entered the kitchen and grabbed her takeaway mug of tea that Harry had already gotten ready for her and the bag of sandwiches that had become a recent thing since her shifts had moved to mornings.

He had smiled when she did that, his thoughts moving away from the early morning reminiscence that he was somehow falling into more frequently. That and the worry that had started to creep up now that she was on regular patrols.

Harry was slightly annoyed that it was happening, since he didn’t want to be over bearing or worry over Eggsy now that she was a copper. He hated it and did his best to not do it.

But there he was, making lunch for both of them and hoping that today wasn’t the day he would be informed of an incident during her shift.

He worried about her, just like he assumed his granny and mum had when he had become a soldier and then a copper himself. But he had been told by James’ wife that it was what came with being a parent. One never stopped worrying over their kids. He had smiled kindly at that and drank the coffee she had offered for a change of pace (It wasn’t until then that he noticed exactly _how_ much tea he drank in a day) as they sat watching Eggsy and Daisy during one of their coinciding days off. 

He had taken a long time in adding to the conversation and he knew that Poppy was all too aware of the underlying meaning behind his concern. Thankfully, she had the same kind of tact that her husband had and delicately refrained from even hinting at it and instead turned the conversation over to the subject of Daisy.

“She’s grown up grand, hasn’t she?”

Harry nodded and looked out the window, smiling softly as he watched Eggsy and Daisy kicking a footie around the small yard in the back, laughing whenever they missed the pop-up net. Daisy looked untouched by the privations that she had suffered earlier in her life. No one would be able to tell that she had been born and partially raised in what Eggsy had finally admitted was half a brothel and half a drug den. She looked like she had always belonged in the middle class neighbourhood that James and Poppy had chosen to raise their family in and Harry was relieved that the poor child had gotten a chance to know more than the seediness and despair of Eggsy’s own broken up childhood.

“She was lucky that you and James raised her and Eggsy kept a level head.”

Poppy smiled, her hazel eyes crinkling as she put her mug down and looked meaningfully at Harry.

“I wasn’t referring to Daisy, Harry. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

Harry flushed slightly, but he didn’t negate her comment.

“It isn’t really my business,” Poppy stated delicately, “But I don’t think that I can keep silent about the situation for much longer. Gwen was a sweet girl and she’s turned into a capable young woman. A woman that I have noticed, hasn’t had eyes for anyone else ever since she came to live with you.”

Harry flinched at the acute observation and put his now empty mug down.

“How would that be, if I were to approach her? I was her legal guardian. I helped her out of a bad situation and I’m sure that most of her feelings come from that. But surely-“

“Harry, for a copper, you can be fairly dense. Have you actually talked to her before you assume all of this? Yes, you were her guardian. She’s in her early twenties now and an independent adult. Why do you suppose she hasn’t tried to move out anytime soon?”

“The housing’s terrible in London and she wants to stay close to Dai-“

Poppy gave a sharp laugh at his answer.

“Come on, Harry. Do you seriously think that she couldn’t find a good place on her own or make the time to see her sister? Be reasonable. She has feelings for you, that’s all. Can you imagine Gwen staying just out of duty?”

Harry opened his mouth and shut it quite quickly. She wouldn’t. He knew Eggsy. The only reason Dean Baker had kept her under his thumb for so long was the threat of harm to Daisy. There were no compunctions like that now. So he knew that Poppy was right and he was throwing up flimsy excuses to protect himself in case he did finally take that step and reach out to her like he had become aware of wanting since she had gone into the academy.

“I wouldn’t badger you with this if I wasn’t sure of what I was seeing, Harry. You know that.”

Poppy interjected softly into the silence that had fallen between then.

“Just think on it, but not too much that you talk yourself out of doing anything and living with the regret of it all.”

Poppy added, reaching over and giving his hand a friendly squeeze.

The girls had come in then and no more was said, since Daisy was eager to tell Poppy about her success and Eggsy only listened good naturedly. Harry thought he was off the hook at that time, but he knew that he wasn’t completely off just yet, if Eggsy’s darkly glittering eyes were anything to go by.

The same dark gaze was on him as they left the house for the morning commune, but she kept quiet about that. She kept up the work banter and the chatter up like she always did and when they parted, he knew that the time had come for the conversation that Poppy had hinted at weeks ago on their day off.

“I’ll come by your desk when I’m done, yeah?”

He couldn’t help but to feel relieved at Eggsy’s practicality overriding any romantic gestures or feelings that she may have been harbouring. He knew that there was the possibility that she might have blurted out something before work, but it was a slim one and he was glad to have been proven wrong.

“Yeah. Have a good day, Eggsy.”

She had smirked then as she headed to her own division.

He had watched until he felt like a ridiculously besotted puppy and got to his desk. His paperwork wasn’t going to do itself and he was sure that James wasn’t going to thank him if didn’t get down to it right away.

He had just reached over to switch on his computer when James rushed in, his mouth a thin line as he caught Harry’s eyes and nodded towards the exit. Harry didn’t hesitate to follow him, the paperwork was going to have to wait another day, it looked like.

“So what’s the hurry?”

“We got a tip from our friends.” James explained as he manoeuvred the car into traffic and headed towards West London, were Niko and Syoma were working to shut down another dirty branch of the Russian business world.

Harry chewed on his lip. It was a welcome tip, but it was a chancey one. He never knew exactly what they would be walking into. Not to mention that Ryanne and Eggsy were assigned that area. He didn’t want for the business to spill over onto them if things got messy.

James must have known what he was thinking from one glance and cleared his throat.

“It won’t be messy. We’re just doing a reconnaissance. Nothing more.”

~*~*~*~*

James was pale and his eye was badly swollen. Butterfly bandages closed the gash above his eyebrow and his cheekbone was bright red and Harry knew that it would be a proper bruise later on that night. He wanted to be annoyed, but he didn’t have the energy to do so.

“Just a look around, huh James?”

He couldn’t help but to make a comment on that. He had been the one to bear the brunt of a tackle of a jittery bouncer from Vladivostok and had gotten smashed to the ground. James had just gotten punched a few times by the aforementioned Russian. He should have been able to chase after him, but his arm had snapped when he landed and he could only watch through a haze of pain as his suspect got away.

Or would have if it hadn’t been for Eggsy and Ryanne clotheslining him and cuffing him. Back up had come by soon enough and several arrests had been made. It had been a big coup for all of them, even if it meant he was relegated to desk duties while Roxy and James were the ones that did the footwork.

He had to sigh and rub his forehead. Maybe it was time to finally accept that promotion King had been not so subtly hinting he should take and take up soon. He was getting on and his throbbing arm was in agreement. He wasn’t as young as he used to be and he had to admit that Eggsy and Ryanne having to save their case was a bit of a rude awakening.

James had the grace to look abashed, but that didn’t last for long.

“So I guess I’m driving you home?”

Eggsy, to her credit, didn’t sound as smug as she could have, but it was a close enough thing. Harry couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed at her. He wanted to go home and crawl into his warm bed and forget that today had even happened.

“I guess you are.”

~*~*~*~*~

It was mid-morning when he brought it up. Amongst the remains of breakfast and a rapidly cooling pot of Earl Grey, it was done.

He knew it was long overdue and he knew that if he didn’t talk to her about his feelings and ambitions before the painkillers kicked in, he was never going to get enough courage to do so later on. Or worse, he’d be so out of it he would probably say the wrong thing to her.

“Eggsy, I…I feel quite like an idiot in even asking, but… I care for you deeply. I might even dare to say that I love you. And I was wondering if it would be possible to know if you feel the same?”

It was stiff, it was old fashioned and he would deny to his dying day that he stammered a bit when he finally got it out.

Eggsy didn’t seem to care though.

She was wrapping her arms around him, laughing a bit maniacally as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

“Bloody hell, Harry! Do you know how long I’ve been trying to tell you that? I love you, Harry Hart, you daft man. I love you.”

They swore each other to secrecy over what happened on the table next.

END.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm mostly basing this on the various reports regarding girls from the former Soviet block being trafficked into Western Europe and other areas of the world. The topic was kind of inspired by "The Dogs of Riga", "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Devil You Know".
> 
> The case itself is from my hometown. There are pretty crappy neighborhoods that are being gentrified and it is only now that people complain about the rampant prostitution, alcoholics, the homeless, and the debris by the schools that the police get pushed into action.


End file.
